Angličtina - Travelling

Autor: Petra Tesařová

English speaking countries are places, states, where people use English as their home language. English is a very spread language. It is one of the most used languages in the world. In many countries, people speak English, e.g. Great Britain, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, South Africa … I would like to speak about towns, monuments and interesting places in the most famous English speaking countries. At first, I will speak about Great Britain. I have never been there, but my friend was in England during the holidays. She told me a lot about it and she recommended me some interesting places to visit. Great Britain is divided into four parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. London is the most visited place in England and it is a capital of the United Kingdom and home of the royal family. It is situated on the river Thames in south-east England. London is a cosmopolitan town. There are many sections, where people from abroad live – e.g. Notting Hill, China Town. Symbols of London’s traffic are red double deckers that go almost everywhere. In London, there are many parks. One of the most famous is Hide Park. Next dominants are cathedrals – e.g. St. Paul Cathedral. There is world´s oldest underground in London. Here are some interesting places in London: o Westminster Palace – Houses of Parliament – is in the gothic style. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Next, a well-known clock tower with Big Ben. o Whitehall – it´s the street where government offices are. Horse Guard Parade takes place here. o Buckingham Palace – it´s the Queen’s residence in London. o Tower Bridge – it´s one of the well known symbols of London. It was built in the 19. century. o Tower of London – it was a royal palace first, then prison and fort and now it is a museum. In this time traditional guards – Beefeaters - guard this place. Other interesting places: The National Gallery, The British Museum, Piccadilly Circus, Kew Gardens, Covent Garden Market, Madame Tussaud’s Besides London, which is in the centre of tourist’s attention, there are many other fascinating places to visit. Stratford upon Avon – it´s a birthplace of William Shakespeare. There is the authentic house, where he was born. Brighton – it´s a seaside town. This place is famous because of the Royal Pavilion. It is one of the most exotically beautiful buildings on the British Islands. Oxford and Cambridge – are old university towns. Canterbury – it´s an ancient city with a majestic cathedral. Stonehenge – is in Salisbury. It is a very mysterious prehistory sight. Wales – it´s sometimes called “the Land of Castles”. The best known is Caernarfon. Scotland – it´s one part of Great Britain. It´s capital is Aberdeen. The principal river of Scotland is called Clyde and the highest peak is Ben Nevis. One of the most beautiful parts of Scotland is the Highlands. Tourists love to hear sound of the bagpipes. Scottish national costume is called kilt. (It is a skirt made of colourful tartar.) Edinburgh – has everything for tourists – young or old. Every summer Edinburgh held international festival. This festival of the arts fills every theatre, concert hall and gallery with performances of opera, dancing films … Well-known place is also the Princes Street where are many shops and clubs.

The United States of America (the USA) is a very large territory. There are many different nationalities and many different cultures. The USA is divided into 50 states with 48 on the continent. The biggest cities in the USA: o New York – the largest city is New York. It lies on the east coast. It is divided into 5 parts: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island. It’s one of the most important financial, commercial and cultural centres in the world. One of the famous buildings was the World Trade Centre, but it was shot down in 2001. The main tourist attraction is the Statue of Liberty. It has become a symbol of freedom. The financial centre of NY is The Wall Street with most important stock exchange in the world, but there is a seat of many banks. The part of NY called Broadway is a centre of cultural life in the city. Madison Square Garden is a main sport centre. o Washington D.C. – it´s the capital of the USA. It’s the seat of the federal government. There is the White house – the residence of American president, the Capitol is the seat of Congress. Pentagon is the centre of military forces. o Los Angeles – it´s the second largest city in the USA. Here we can see the famous film centre Hollywood, district Beverly Hills and children paradise Disneyland. Here is also the biggest ZOO. o Houston – there are NASA centre and Johnson space centre. o Florida – is mainly a tourist centre with long beaches on Miami. o Chicago – it lies on the coast of Lake Michigan. In 1971, the biggest skyscraper in the USA was built here – it is the Lears Tower which is 438 m high. The first McDonald’s restaurant was opened here in 1955, now it is a museum. Chicago has also China Town, Polish and Italian section. There are even many Czechs and Slovaks. o Seattle – it is the fastest growing US city. A famous music group Nirvana comes from here. There are also many national parks in the USA. The most famous is Yellowstone. It is a national park in the Rocky Mountains. It’s the oldest and the largest nature reservation in the USA. The second park is Yosemite Valley National Park in Sierra Nevada. Next tourist attraction is the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.

Australia is the smallest and youngest continent in the world. One of many Australian’s symbols is the Opera building. Everybody knows it. The most famous and the biggest cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Alice Springs and the capitol - Canberra. In Melbourne, there is a lot of museums, galleries and parks. The nature in Australia is very interesting. There are deserts, mountains and forests. A typical tree is Eucalyptus. Australia is the only place of the world where kangaroo, koala bear, dingo, Tasmanian devil and other kinds of the strange animals live.
New Zealand. It consists of two islands – North and South Island. The North Island is famous for it´s volcanic activity and small lakes. The South Island is interesting for romantic valleys and fascinating mountains. The capitol city is Wellington. Some people call this place a paradise. An interesting fact about New Zealand is that there are more sheep in the country than people.

Canada. It is the largest country in the American continent and the second largest country in the world. Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories. The largest province is Quebec. The population there is speaking French mostly. The capital of Canada is Ottawa, but the biggest city is Montreal. (Other important cities: Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton …) The major tourist attraction is Niagara Falls. These falls are situated between lakes Erie and Ontario. There are thousands of lakes in Canada.

Osnova: 1) English speaking countries 2) Great Britain – interesting places in London - interesting places besides London 3) USA – New York - Washington D.C. - Los Angeles - Houston, Florida, Chicago, Seattle - National parks 4) Australia 5) New Zealand 6) Canada – Niagara Falls